


When The Candle Flickers

by CJAnslow



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Snarry - Fandom
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Dark!Albus, Draco and Fred are oblivious, Draco and Harry are friends, Dumbledore is power hungry, F/M, George is head over heels for Draco, Ginny Weasly Bashing, Hermione is head over heels for Fred, Light!Tom, M/M, Magic!Dudley, Molly Weasly bashing, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Petunia and Dudley are good, Petunia isn’t Lily’s sister in this, Ron Weasly Bashing, Severus doesn’t trust Dumbledore, Vernon is still a dick, magic!Petunia, slight slow burn Snarry, they were best friends at Hogwarts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-28 12:45:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15707499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CJAnslow/pseuds/CJAnslow
Summary: When Petunia Dursley opens her front door on the 1st of November 1981 to find a sleeping baby on her doorstep, she vows to protect him with her life, even from her own husband. And she succeeds





	1. Chapter 1

1st November, 1981; 4 Privet Drive, Little Whining, Surrey.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The night of the 1st of November, 1981 had been a bitterly cold one and for whatever reason, Petunia Dursley had not been able to shift the feeling of unease that had planted its seed within the deepest pit of her stomach and begun to grow and grow and grow until it rattled within her chest. 

She didn’t quite know what compelled her to stay up later than her husband that night. But she did, sat in the dark, downing cup after cup of tea and trying, failing, to stop the nervous shaking of her hands. Petunia had never seen herself as an attractive woman, no, she was far too akin to a horse to be described as attractive. Too thin, neck too long, skin pulled too tight over bones. Perhaps that’s why she choose somebody equally as unattractive to be her husband.

Vernon Dursley was a whale of a man, with hardly any neck to be seen as it had long since been taken over by his chin. He had beady little eyes and could snore loud enough to wake the dead. Quite frankly Petunia had seen better looking Gringotts goblins during her time at Hogwarts. Why she chose to shack up with Vernon Dursley was anyone’s guess.

She was just about ready to climb the stairs to go to bed when she heard faint voices outside her door. Voices that gave her comfort and yet did nothing to ease the growing seed within her stomach as it climbed up into her throat. She knew those voices and those voices could only mean one thing. Trouble.

The muffled voices seemed to argue back and forth for all of five minuets before a single crack of appariation split through the air. She closed her eyes and by the time she had opend them again, the faint sound of a motorbike had sounded before it grew fainter and fainter leaving nothing but piercing, deafening silence. 

She took a deep breath and shakily stood from the sofa, wiping her sweaty hands on the material of her nightgown before she made her way into the hallway and to the front door. There she took another deep breath before pulling the door open and looking into the darkness. 

It was pitch black. It felt as thouth someone had removed all the lightbulbs in the street lamps and thrown dark, thick, black ink that blanketed the area like the plauge. She shivered as a particularly bitter breeze travelled across her bare arms and legs. And yet she saw nothing. Until she heard something. A small whine. 

Looking down onto her doorstep where the light of a lamp within her hallway just about reached, was a red faced sleeping babe, wrapped up in blankets and placed on the doorstep with the upmost of care. As if he were a China doll that would break at any given moment. 

Swallowing back tears she bent and gathered the bundle up within her arms gently shushing the child as she bent once more to pick up a fallen letter with her address written on it that had dropped from off the baby. She pocked the letter and closed the door behind her slowly rocking the tiny baby within her arms as she made her way back into the livingroom. There she sat with the babe resting against her chest and within her arms as she struggled not to cry. 

Trying not to wake the child up, she carefully moved one arm and turned the lamp that was on the side table next to the sofa on. The light illuminated the baby and she choked back a sob as she held on just that little bit tighter to the angel in her arms. When he opened his eyes however, the floodgates opened up and silent tears fell from her chin onto her neck. Eyes, almost black in the dim light stared back at her, but as she looked closer, she could see the green that they truly were. 

They were nothing like Lily’s. Yes, they were the same in colour. But his eyes. His eyes were as knowing and exprssive as any adults. She gently brushed the soft thin hair that lay atop his head before slowly taking the letter from her pocket and opening it. It was not from Albus Dumbledore, which surprised her dearly. No. It was from McGonagall. 

Dear Mrs Dursley, 

I regret to inform you that your friends, Mr and Mrs Potter died last night in unfortunate circumstances. I am unabe to go into great detail however I can say that one Albus Dumbledore is not as innocent as he makes out to be. 

Which leads to this. The baby you have in your care now is one Harry James Potter. As you may of already guessed he is Mr and Mrs Potter’s only son. After everything that has happened we have discovered that you are the only appropriate caretaker. As his godmother you were added to the will where it stated that, should anything happen to the Potter’s which rendered young Harry alone, he will be placed into the care of his godfther, Mr Sirius Black. As it stands he is within Azkaban and clearly cannot take young Harry in. Which leaves you Mrs Dursley. You were also named as caretaker should anything happen wherein Mr Black cannot take care of him. 

I must plead that you keep the boy in your care. He is in grave danger. And not from the evils you’d expect. No this evil had been lying under our noses for years without our knowing and I fear everything we know to be true is a lie. Should you refuse to take him into your care, he will be placed in a muggle orphanage where I fear he will be in greater danger. I must stress that Albus does not know about my writing to you nor does he know about the childs whereabouts. And it needs to stay that way for the boys own safety. 

I have placed extremely strong wards upon your home keyed only to you, your family, Harry, myself and a work colleague of mine, Mr Severus Snape, who I am certain we can trust with our lives and our secret. 

Once again I must implore that you keep the young one within your care until the time comes for him to come to Hogwarts where myself and Severus can keep a closer eye on him for longer periods of time.

I trust you will do the right thing Petunia. Severus and I will see you soon. 

Faithfully,  
Professor Minerva McGonagall  
Head of Transfiguration department at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Deputy Headmistress, Head of Gryffindor 

Looking down to the once again sleeping child she bent slightly and placed a gentle kiss to the lightning bolt shaped scar upon his forehead. There she vowed to help protect this boy with her whole being. And when the time comes, she would teach him and her son everything she knew about magic and the world around it.


	2. Chapter 2

It had taken Petunia longer to convince Vernon that they should keep Harry in their care than she had expected. Longer than she had the patience for. In the end she had put her foot down and given him an ultimatum. He either agreed to allow Harry to stay in their care, or he leave. He obviously agreed to the former. 

She kept her greif over her friend’s combined deaths private, kept it to stray tears over the sink as she was washing up after meals and in the shower where the spray of the water was louder than her sobs or when she was in the privacy of caring for both children. When she was in front of Vernon however, her greif was locked behind a closed door so she could take care of their new charge and her son, because she knew damn well that Vernon wasn’t going to do it. 

Petunia had quickly expanded her young Dudley’s room one day while Vernon had been at work and added a new cot to the room. Dudley and Harry would sleep in the same room and at night she kept the door locked with a lock that only she had the key to. She knew that if Vernon could, he would go to any lengths to get rid of her friend’s child. She wasn’t going to risk it.

Petunia was the one to tend to both children, feeding and changing them when needed and taking them on long walks whenever Vernon came home in a bad mood, which seemed to be happening more often than not as the days dragged on. It wasn’t until Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape came to visit that something seemed to give. 

The very first time they visited, Vernon had been at work. Petunia had ushered them into the livingroom and had quickly handed Dudley to Minerva and Harry to a rather uncomfortable looking Severus before rushing into the kitchen to make cups of tea. Severus was a lot younger than Petunia had expected him to be, certainly younger than any of the other staff she had seen teach at Hogwarts. He had a handsome face with a rather large, hooked nose, black shoulder length hair that at first glance seemed greasy but was in fact healthier that what would be expected of a potions professor. His most captivating quality howeve, were his eyes, black as coal until the light hit and revealed the hidden browns and flecks of gold. 

She had just placed the tray of tea down onto the table and was trying to hush a fussy Dudley when a purple faced Vernon came storming into the livingroom. He seemed to survey the scene in front of him with a look of disgust before his temper flared higher and the purple of his face got deeper. 

“Now Petunia. I don’t mind you going out to meet friends but I will not have them in my house.” His words were spoken through clenched teeth and Severus had to fight to keep the sneer off of his face. He was already uncomfortable enough with a sleeping child in his arms in a place he didn’t know with people he didn’t know. The last thing he needed was said child to wake up and start screaming. 

Minerva looked aghast. Why in the world had Petunia married such an ungodly, pig-like character? She snapped out her thoughts when a quietly crying Dudley was gently placed back into her arms. Minerva quietly chuckled at the uncomfortable and poorly veiled look of disgust on Severus’ face before she went back to cooing at the fussy baby in her arms. She wondered what Severus’ reaction would be if he was to notice that Harry was awake and staring at him rather intensely.

Petunia stood up straight and stared Vernon down. “Your house?” She asked, tone icy “Who brought this house Vernon? Who’s name is on the lease? Because it sure as hell isn’t yours. And how do you expect me to go out to meet friends when I have two children to take care of? I certainly don’t see you stepping up to the plate to care for either of them. Yes I understand that one of them isn’t yours but the other one is, yet I don’t think you’ve even held Dudley since I gave birth to him. But sure, I’m able to go out and meet friends with two young children and no support from my suppoded husband”. The word ‘husband’ was practically spat out and two out of the three adults in the room watched, tensed, as the man’s chins wobbled in rage and his complexion grew darker. Severus saw it coming. He watched as the giant oaf’s hand raised, almost in slow motion but before it could land it’s blow, Severus was up on his feet, baby still in his arms, and his wand at the man’s throat. Well, chins. Before anything could be said, Petunia placed her hand on Severus’ shoulder and shot him a grateful smile as he stepped back and concealed his wand in his sleeve once more, before she flipped and shoved her own wand at the throat of her supposed husband. “I want you gone. You will leave this house within an hour. You will go upstairs under the supervision of Severus, you will pack your belongings and you will get the hell out of my house. Our marriage is done and you can forget ever seeing your son again. Do not test me Vernon Dursley, you know fine well what a woman like me is capable of doing so don’t push it. Now get upstairs and get the fuck out” Her words were spoken in a harsh but it was if they had been shouted down a tunnel. She slowly lowered her wand and tucked it back into her own sleeve before backing away, her eyes fixed on her now ex-husband. She smiled at a stunned Minerva before taking a quietly gurgling Harry from the arms of Severus, who immediately slipped his wand back into his hand and lazily pointed it at a now pale and shaking Vernon. Growing tired of waiting, Severus rolled his eyes and motioned to the stairs with his wand. As the oaf of a man scrambled to get upstairs he turned back to the two women in the room and nodded his head once, only pausing to stare into the intence green eyes of the baby he just held in his arms who now seemed intent on staring at him. Pulling his eyes away almost reluctantly, he left the room in a billowing of black teaching robes and grace that Petunia had never seen possessed by anyone up until this point. She then turned to Minerva and smiled, sitting down next to her on the sofa. “Now Minerva, if it’s not too much trouble, I would like Vernon taken out of the wards on this house. I think it would be for everyone’s benefit if they were just keyed to myself, you, Severus and the children”. Her words were soft spoken as the reality of what had just happened settled. Her own husband had nearly struck her. With a man of his size there’s be no telling what damage a hit would do to someone of her frail stature. Who knew what would’ve happened if Severus hadn’t of stepped in. She promised herself to thank him when she had the chance. He didn’t even know her and yet he still stood between her and Vernon. Minerva nodded before she replied, her tone the same as the one she used with all her Gryffindor’s, soft and mother-like. “Of course my dear, I’ll get that done once he’s left” Petunia smiled at her former teacher and turned to the livingroom door as Severus and Vernon came back downstairs, Vernon carrying all of his bags, while Severus looked bored holding nothing but his wand. Petunia decided that she quite liked Severus. He was quite the character after all. He made his way back into the livingroom and without insentive took Harry from her arms once more. She watched as the excuse of a man she once called a husband placed his keys on a side table before he made his way towards the frontdoor. Before he opened it he looked back at her, for what reason she didn’t know, in the hopes she’d change her mind perhaps. She now knew why Severus took Harry back into his arms. With her arms now free, she simply took off her ring and placed it on the table in front of her. Sighing in defeat Vernon turned and with great difficulty opened the frontdoor and left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me too long to finish this but I did it


End file.
